#Hillbilly is now available for rent on Amazon, iTunes, GooglePlay, and On Demand. I hope you’ll watch it. @dollyparton did, and said this: "I'm happy to see somebody trying to cover us as we really and not what some people think we are. It's wonderful.” I’m really proud to be one of the executive producers of this film. It features folks like #bellhooks, @walkyourcamera, @jasonkylehoward, @sgleaves, #frankxwalker, @cgoodwoman, @ladybunlovely, myself, and others. Link to trailer in profile.

2019-01-11 23:53
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It’s been awhile since I’ve done a #FridayIntroduction post but there are a lot of new followers and it’s a new year, so let’s go.
Hi, I’m Danielle and I’m a writer, teacher, activist, sometimes academic, and a mother. I’m a budding artist/crafter with an affinity for yarn (crochet), lettering, painting, and sketch journaling.
I love motherhood but I have no problem telling you that kids are jerks and this life ain’t for everybody.
I live in Atlanta but I’m from Detroit. People think I’m MLK but I’m really more Malcolm X don’t let the degrees fool you. I was raised Pentecostal but y’all God needs therapy so I’m Agnostic now.
I believe that #BlackLivesMatter. I know that #RespectabilityPolitics are bullshit. My #BlackFeminism is both #bellhooks and #Beyoncé. I can read academic anthologies one day, young adult fantasy the next and romance novels the day afterwards.
I know that books save lives because they literally saved mine. I am #HermioneGranger mixed with #Zelie and #Binti.
My Instagram is not a carefully curated view of one particular niche. It’s my WHOLE life, so you might see art pictures one day and breastfeeding the next.
I’d love to hear how you found me and more about you in the comments.

2019-01-11 23:47
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“We black folks know that our collective wounded self-esteem has not been healed. We know that we are in pain. And it is only through facing the pain that we will be able to make it go away.” 🔥 #nowreading #bellhooks

My 8 year old daughter gave this note to me last night. It was past 930 and we had already asked her to get in bed over and over. •
She was in the writing room at the Art desk working on something but I didn’t know what and I didn’t try to find out, I just wanted her in bed. •
When she finally plopped the note down in frustration she said, “See mom, this is what I was working on. You shouldn’t judge someone by their looks or by what they’re doing because most of the time you don’t know. You just have to wait. And then you’ll find out.”
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Most of the time we don’t know. And that’s why we have things called patience and grace. And also curiosity without judgment. Because a lot of times people are writing love notes. It just takes longer than we thought it would.

2019-01-11 22:02
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💌 a love letter 💌 to @spaceus.co – I’ve said it b4 and it remains tru: don’t know I would still be in boston without you. steph & ellen you’ve done something tremendous for beantown. isabel and carlen too. TY for letting me get *so* weird all over the space, for committing to the expansive community you seek to build, and for supporting local creative practice. you have truly changed the game for folx who make things, even us “I used to live in New York” bois. Will hype you eternally bc I really love you & am grateful to you/ for you forever. you are the change we wish to see in the world & tbh #bellhooks would b proud🙏🏽🖤

“Photography has been, and is, a central aspect of #decolonization that calls us back to the past and offers a way to reclaim and renew life-affirming bonds. Using images, we connect ourselves to a recuperative, redemptive memory that enables us to construct radical identities, images of ourselves that transcend the limits of the colonizing eye.”- bell hooks, Art on my Mind: Visual Politics: “In Our Glory: Photography and Black Life”
Through #TRANSCENDINGTIME, we invite you to use photography as a tool of #resistance and #reclamation. When you witness yourself through your own gaze, who do you see When you disrobe yourself from the fabrics of colonization, who do you want to be
#SelfCare Exercise: With the camera you have available, phone or polaroid, take an image of yourself. Print it and place it somewhere you can see on a regular basis, as a reminder that self-documentation is a revolutionary act. [Image description: 25 photographs by #MalickSidibe record of teh people of Bamako, Mali.] #blackgirlmagik #bellhooks

Everything we need is already within. We just have to reach for it and pull out the magic and power from inside ✨⭐️💫 1/11 Don’t fear the power that’s inside! Run towards your greatness and joy away from it #HappyFriday tag a friend how’s power inspires you 💗✨ #BellHooks

As a #student I never looked back. Reading this was elementary & spiritual. Paying honor to those who taught you how to read, and write is important. As you guess progression is key. You may find your favorite #authors or #books but looking at the past will never be the same. We all Cary Baggage. This baggage comes with the tolls of life. Whether your a person of color or not; we have demons. Some deal with them differently than others. I resort to #reading and the occasional short writing practice. It’s easy to identify with many people who do similar things as the above, because we usually touch the same topics in some way shape or form. We just, so happen to practice different, and this is what makes us different. This might be my first truly written book by #bellhooks and should be yours. There is so much you gain from just one woman. #wellness #joyful #bookstagram #bibliophile #writingistherapy #readingisthinking #rememberedrapture

Today our founder published an article on medium about the power of women. She quoted Bell Hooks “Women will only be truly sexually liberated when we arrive at a place where we can see ourselves as having sexual value and agency irrespective of whether of not we are the objects of male desire.” And it’s true...every word! These women are just hanging out, doing their thing. 📷 @maria.j.luque via @lennyletter
#affirmations #bellhooks #feminism #touchmyself #femalepleasure #fuckthemalegaze

2019-01-10 22:24
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“Knowing how to be solitary is central to the art of loving. When we can be alone, we can be with others without using them as a means of escape.” bell hooks #SelfLove #SelfCare #TBT #love #bellhooks

2019-01-10 21:50
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I released a new episode of the @WhoisShethepodcast that talks all about the POWER OF SHARING! Sharing your gifts, your passions, your talents and your experiences ANYWAY, REGARDLESS of what others say. They see the light but can't always handle the glare. That's not your concern. Don't ever play yoself by letting the opinions of others keep you from letting your LIGHT SHINE! SHINE your light, SHARE it with the world, its your ultimate duty. FUCK YO PRIDE. BE TRUE TO YOURSELF! Live out your purpose! #Whoisshe #BellHooks

2019-01-10 20:00
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A question we often get asked by men is "When will you start empowering men"⠀
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We believe that empowering women and girls also empowers men to break from the #patriarchal structures of society. As bell hooks says:⠀
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“... #feminism is a movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression...I liked this definition because it did not imply that men were the enemy. By naming #sexism as the problem it went directly to the heart of the matter. Practically, it is a definition which implies that all #sexist thinking and action is the problem, whether those who perpetuate it are female or male, child or adult. It is also broad enough to include an understanding of systemic #institutionalizedsexism. As a definition it is open-ended. To understand feminism it implies one has to necessarily understand sexism.” ― #bellhooks, 'Feminism is for Everybody: Passionate Politics'⠀
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Regram from @equalityequation 🙏

“All About Love” by Bell Hooks was one of the dopest books I’ve read on the action and nature of love. The book speaks to all facets of love: the love shared between communities, families, friends, strangers, partners. “Love is as love does” is the motto for everything in life, but love cannot be “done” until we identify what it means to love. Love must be upheld consciously through our actions with those we interact with, not only those we share a home/bed with. We must eliminate fear and greed. Only then can we have room for a personal revolution (change).

My theme for this year is LOVE... I’ve been going through lots of feelings and making art about emotion: fear, anger, and sorrow have been dominating last year. But I’m all about transformation into what is important to me...being positive, nurturing, and loving. Thanks to the inspiration from this wonderful book by Bell Hooks “all about love, new visions” ❤️ #appliedcraftanddesign #mfa #ocac #pnca #winterreading #bellhooks #allaboutlove

“When we choose to Love, we choose to move against fear, against alienation and separation. The choice to love is a choice to connect, to find ourselves in the other...” by #BellHooks ♥️ #art by #MikeMedaglia // #love #choice #connection

2019-01-09 21:46
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#Repost from @virgietovar - I'm thinking on this quote from #bellhooks today. Systems like fatphobia, sexism, racism, homophobia and ableism are so rampant, incessant and brutal because it requires *that* much effort to keep us from the knowledge of our own power, because THAT'S HOW POWERFUL WE ARE. Remember: whatever you've been taught is your weakness is likely 1. your greatest strength, 2. the thing that has the power to connect you deeply to others, and 3. the source of your own beautiful power 🌼

Whew, child, the patriarchy. I'm reading two books--Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay x Elena Ferrante & Valmiki's Daughter x Shani Mootoo--that engage heavily with it in its various distillations. I'm a bit overwhelmed. Just a lil' bit. The news headlines don't help.
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We Dream Together x Anne Eller proved a decent escape route (into colonial machinations, the hovering threat of a free people's re-enslavement, rebellion, subterfuge, sexism....hahaha okay but it was *different*). Now that it's over what's next Which book could serve as a cool balm when the others become a bit too painful.
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@Rebelwomenlit challenge to the rescue! I chose Feminism is for Everybody x Bell Hooks for the prompt "a book written by a famous black woman whose work you haven't read before". What a warm, happy title. I'll slip in a romance novella here and there (hello new Alyssa Cole book of my dreams) but Hooks' hopeful take on all feminism has, is, and can still do for the "beloved community" may prove a bulwark against the *crap* happening elsewhere. Ahem.
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It also counts towards my #beatthebacklist and #mynonfiction19 challenges.
🔸
#bookstagram
#bookstagrammer
#caribbeangirlswhoblog
#feminism
#bellhooks
#booksofinstagram
#readersofig
#readersofinstagram

As you may or may not remember, I decided to read more nonfiction this year, more precisely, 1 nonfiction a month.
As you may or may not remember, I also struggle to read nonfiction: because I don’t always feel confident enough, and also because I’m still convalescing from that burnout, and nonfiction can be demanding.
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I recently had a conversation with my brother who almost talked me into quitting my PhD research, but then I remembered the initial reason that brought me here, before I knew about the ocean of books I had to read and the Impostor Syndrome who would impose his company on me (I can’t help but seeing him as masculine). The initial reasons were love, pleasure and intellectual curiosity. I love the writers I work on (Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Monica Ali, Jhumpa Lahiri and Zadie Smith, isn’t it a nice bouquet!). I love the notions I study: transculturalism, postcolonialism, alterity, belonging, migration, vulnerability, racial issues, whiteness... I really think mine is a topical subject that can help us (or me, at the very least 😅!) better understand our contemporary world.
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And so, in order to link together my work and my beloved bookstagram activities, I have decided to create my very first virtual book club! The idea would be to read together #1nonfictionamonth and discuss it together. We can divide the books in reasonable chunks and share our points of view once a week. Don’t hesitate to follow the hashtag to get regular updates!
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This month, I’m reading Ain’t I A Woman by bell hooks. Next month, I’ve planned a buddy read with @bookbarr before I thought of this bookclub: we’re reading Orientalism by E. Said. Anyone wants to join In March, I’ll be reading Brit(ish). Say hi in the comments if you’re interested in one of these three books and don’t hesitate to spread the word; the more the merrier, especially for #nonfiction! 😅
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Pictured here is my current nonfiction TBR. See if some of these books interest you and let me know in the comments!
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#bookblogger #bookreviewers #bloggingforbooks #thelitbooks #bookfeatures #readwomen #writersofcolour #blackliterature #bellhooks #slayinyourlane #edwardsaid #orientalism #phdresearch

“If women want a feminist revolution—and ours is a world that is crying out for feminist revolution—then we must assume responsibility for drawing women together in political solidarity. That means we must assume responsibility for eliminating all the forces that divide women. Racism is one such force. ... Our willingness to assume responsibility for the elimination of racism need not be engendered by feelings of guilt, moral responsibility, or rage. It can spring from a heartfelt desire for sisterhood and the personal, intellectual realisation that racism among women undermines the potential radicalism of feminism.”
bell hooks, Ain’t I a Woman:Black Women and Feminism
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“IF I DREAMED NATURAL DREAMS OF BEING A NATURAL WOMAN DOING WHAT A NATURAL WOMAN DOES WHEN SHE’S NATURAL I WOULD HAVE A REVOLUTION.”
From cover illustration, Fermin Rocker
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#bellhooks #aintiawoman #aminotawomanandasister #blackwomenandfeminism #blackfeminism #sisterhood #feministrevolution #revolutionary #naturalwoman

Bell Hooks 'All about love. New visions'.
🐜 I've picked it up from the stack of books I've received for free, and read reviews that were not so positive. The book was average rated but I thought I would give it a try.
🐜 Guess what! I LOVE IT! I guess it's alway with books like that, when many people are negative about it, you find it awkward because you actually like it.
🐜 Bell Hooks writes in this very warm, kind, loving manner and it seems that I am floating through pages finding myself near the end.
🐜 The writer takes a new approach on love, asks a question what is it, how the mass media portrays it and shows that we actually fear love (as strange as it's sounds it's actually true but for that you will have to read the book❤️)
🐜 I'm loving every bit of it. .
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#bellhooks #love #allaboutlove #igreads #booksofinstagram #bookstagram #book #bookish #booknerd #booking #currentlyreading #positivity #nonfiction #selfhelp

No Rain, No Flowers. 💓🌱🌹
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Carry On 🎶🎧⛅ #WeAreKing
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"The wounded heart learns self-love by first overcoming low self-esteem.
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As more people have found the courage to break through shame and speak about woundedness in their lives, we are now subjected to a mean-spirited cultural response, where all talk of woundedness is mocked. The belittling of anyone's attempt to name a context within which they were wounded, were made a victim, is a form of shaming. It is psychological terrorism. Shaming breaks our hearts. All individuals who are genuinely seeking well-being within a healing context realize that it is important to that process not to make being a victim a stance of pride or a location from which to simply blame others. We need to speak our shame and our pain courageously in order to recover. Addressing woundedness is not about blaming others; however, it does allow individuals who have been, and are, hurt to insist on accountability and responsibility both from themselves and from those who were the agents of their suffering as well as those who bore witness. Constructive confrontation aids our healing.
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As a nation, we need to gather our collective courage and face that our society’s lovelessness is a wound. As we allow ourselves to acknowledge the pain of this wound when it pierces our flesh and we feel in the depths of our soul a profound anguish of spirit, we come face to face with the possibility of conversation, of having a change of heart. In this way, recognition of the wound is a blessing because we are able to tend it, to care for the soul in ways that make us ready to receive the love that is promised." 💭
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#bellhooks
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#accountability #authenticity #betherainbow 🌈 #blackgirlmagic #blackrose #forgiveness #grace #growth #healing #lettinggo #levelup #listentoyourheart #loveisfreedom #loveisrespect #mistakesarelessons #norainnoflowers #protectyourenergy #protectyourpeace #selflove #selfowned #selfrespect #selfworth #speak #tbt #vulnerabilityisstrength #wordsofwisdom #yoursilencewillnotprotectyou